Abstract

eCrime is now the typical volume property crime in the United Kingdom impacting more of the public than traditional acquisitive crimes such as burglary and car theft (Anderson et al, 2012). It has become increasingly central to the National Security Strategy of several countries; in the United Kingdom becoming a Tier One threat. While it is apparent to some governments that cybercrimes are now as much of a ‘problem’ as some forms of organised crime, little is known about the perceptions of the broad network of what we call public and private sector ‘eCrime controllers’ in the United Kingdom. A survey of 104 members of the UK Information Assurance community garnered data on the perceptions of the eCrime problem. The results showed an association of cooperation and consumption of data sources with perceptions. It is likely that perceptions within non-specialist corporate and public domains (non-IT and Finance) will begin to change as new cooperation arrangements are introduced as part of the UK Cyber Security Strategy. These findings call for a more in-depth qualitative understanding of the cooperation between eCrime controllers and their data consumption practices. Ascertaining what shapes this cooperation (and non-cooperation) and how perceptions compare with ‘actual’ threats and risks is necessary if we are to better understand the ‘social construction’ of the problem and subsequent policy and operational outcomes.

Item Type:

Article

Date Type:

Publication

Status:

Published

Schools:

Cardiff Centre for Crime, Law and Justice (CCLJ)Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)

Subjects:

H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reformH Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races